


First Impression

by TVgirll1971



Category: Whiskey Cavalier (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-06
Updated: 2021-02-06
Packaged: 2021-03-17 10:22:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29223906
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TVgirll1971/pseuds/TVgirll1971
Summary: Frankie doesn't make a good impression when she yells at Ray in front of his visiting older sister.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 2





	First Impression

**Author's Note:**

> Set in Season 2. Note--by this point, we'd heard of Ray's father but we haven't met him yet.

Ray was in his office with his sister when it happened. Ray’s older sister, Sandy, had arrived from Maryland with her family for a weeklong visit. As they sat there discussing plans for their mother’s surprise birthday party it came—Hurricane Frankie.

“One day, Ray!” Frankie stormed in, not even registering that he wasn’t alone. “We have to do this stupid training exercise because you missed the deadline by ONE DAY??”

“Uh, uh,” Ray floundered. “Sorry. I must have got the dates mixed up.”

“You got the dates mixed up?!! Your damned job is NOT to get the dates mixed up!!”

“What the hell is your problem?” Sandy blurted out behind Frankie.

“Excuse me?” “Sandy.” Frankie and Ray said at the same time.

Standing up to face Frankie, Sandy addressed Ray, “I’m not just going to sit here while she yells at you like that.” Getting in Frankie’s face, she asked. “Who the hell do you think you are, anyway?”

“Sandy. She’s co-leader of my team.” Ray stated, his face serious.

“That’s right.” Frankie sneered. “The team that he’s *supposed* to be liaison for. Who the hell are you?”

“Frankie,” Ray answered. “This is my sister, Sandy. Sandy, that’s Will’s partner, Frankie.”

“Partner?” Sandy scoffed. “I thought Will had better taste.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Frankie asked defensively.

“It means that someone who can’t show an ounce of respect for a member of their team has no business being a leader!”

“Sandy!” Ray yelled out.

Ignoring him, she continued, pointing to Ray. “That man is not some bozo you found off the street! He’s a highly qualified agent and he deserves to be recognized for his twenty years of service to this agency!!”

“Cassandra! Stop!” Ray yelled as he stood up.

Glaring at Sandy, and obviously reigning in her emotions, Frankie said out loud “I should go.” Before leaving she turned to Ray and added. “I’ll talk to you later.”

As soon as Frankie left, a not too happy Ray walked over to his sister. “What the hell was that?” he demanded.

Sandy gaped at her brother. “I wasn’t just going to let her steamroll right over you.”

“She’s on my team, Sandy. I need to work with her.”

“Which is exactly why you should stand up to her. You always let people walk all over you.”

“Because it’s not a big deal.’ he insisted.

“Yes it is!” she countered. “It’s one thing to take it from Pop—he’s intimidating—but her?”

“You don’t think she’s intimidating?” Ray challenged.

“No. I don’t.” she answered, defiantly. “I think she’s a big bully.”

 _“Yeah,”_ Ray thought to himself. _“A bully who cut my brakes.”_ Out loud, he simply said. “She’s not that bad, Sandy. Besides, she’s a much better agent than I am.”

“That doesn’t give her the right to treat you like that!”

“Sandy, I don’t need you to fight my battles for me.”

“You’re not exactly fighting them yourself. You probably let your new girlfriend walk all over you too!” Seeing Ray’s angry glare, she softened. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. You can put Pop’s dagger eyes away.”

Ray sighed because he knew what she was referring to—it was what they called their father’s angry stare. “I don’t have dagger eyes like Pop.”

Sandy smiled “You totally have dagger eyes like him. You just don’t use them that often.” After a brief pause, she added. “I just don’t like people putting you down. Pop does it all the time and I, I don’t like other people doing it to you.”

*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** 

Not long after, Sandy went to lunch with Susan to get to know her..

“So,” Susan began, gingerly, “I hear you had a run in with Frankie today.”

Sandy shot Susan an exasperated glare “I do NOT like that woman.”

“You barely know her.” Susan countered.

“I don’t care!” Sandy said, emphatically. “She just barges into Ray’s office like she owns the place and starts yelling at him. I swear, it was just like being around my father.”

“I know Frankie has some rough edges, but she’s really not that bad.”

“I just don’t like people putting him down.” Sandy admitted. “It wasn’t easy for Ray growing up. He just, I don’t know-- he wouldn’t read a book to save his life. Getting him to sit down and study was like pulling teeth and that led to poor grades...”

“Which didn’t make your father happy.” Susan surmised.

“No.” Sandy replied, shaking her head. “And it wasn’t just Pop. Kids laughed at him sometimes. You know how kids are—you make a stupid mistake and you’re made fun of for a whole year.” With a humorless chuckle, she added. “Problem is Ray used to make more than one stupid mistake.”

Susan was starting to get a clear picture of why Ray was the way he was. The need to be liked and included to the point of ignoring obvious social cues—it all stemmed from a lonely little boy who often found himself excluded.

“He doesn’t seem to let it get to him though.” Susan stated.

‘No.’ Sandy with a smile. “He takes after our mother—always looking on the bright side. I guess I tend to be more serious minded like our father.”

“You don’t need to be worried about him.” Susan said, referring to Ray. “He’s doing great. He has a job he loves and is part of a team who admires and respects him.”

“Even that woman?” Sandy asked, skeptically.

Susan smiled and nodded. “Even Frankie. I know she comes across as abrasive but deep down she really does value Ray’s contribution to the team.”

Sandy shot her a look that implied she wasn’t exactly convinced.

*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** 

The end of that week, Sandy walked into the Dead Drop to see Will. The bar appeared to be empty so she called out “Hello? Will?”

“Sandy!” Will exclaimed as he emerged from his office upstairs. “Hey! It’s good to see you!” he said as he gave her a big hug. “I’m sorry, I didn’t have time to see you before. We’ve been swamped this week.”

“No, I understand.” Sandy said with a smile. “It’s work.” Suddenly, a thought occurred to her “Wait. You’re coming to Mom’s surprise party tonight, aren’t you?”

“Are you kidding me?” Will asked. “I love surprise parties. I just thought it’d be nice for us to catch up on things alone at the bar. You know, over drinks.”

“Okay.” Sandy said, a tad skeptical. As Sandy sat down at the bar, she said. “Look, Will, Ray told me what happened between you two—specifically what he did.”

“He told you guys?” Will asked, surprised.

“Well, he told *me*. I doubt anyone else knows. Anyway, I’m really sorry. You didn’t deserve that.”

Will shrugged it off “It’s water under the bridge. Anyway, I want to hear about you.”

After a few minutes of them chatting over drinks, a familiar voice called out “Okay, Will. I’m here to help with those reports.”

Sandy’s hackles went up. She knew that voice. A glance towards the entrance confirmed it—it was the infamous Frankie.

“Oh, yeah,” Will said, as if he’d totally forgotten.. “Wait right there. I’ll go up to my office and get them. It might take me a few minutes.”

“Why do I get the feeling this was a set up?” Sandy asked when Will went upstairs.

“Because knowing Will, it probably was.” Frankie conceded. "So, you’re Ray’s sister. I guess I should apologize for what happened in his office. It wasn’t personal. I just tend to lash out. You can ask Will.”

“I guess I should apologize too.” Sandy responded. “Yelling at my brother’s team leader isn’t exactly the most professional thing to do.” 

“Can I be honest about something?” Frankie asked. When Sandy nodded, she continued. “When I first met your brother, you’re right. I didn’t have any respect for him. I even told him he’d never be a part of this team. But I was wrong. While he doesn’t exactly do things the way I would, there’s no denying that your brother’s good at his job.”

“Thanks. And I guess I did overreact. How you handle your team is your business. Besides, Will wouldn’t be your partner if you were as bad as I thought.” She took a deep breath and stuck her hand out. “Maybe we should start over. “Cassandra Cummings. You can call me Sandy.”

Frankie smiled and shook her hand. “Frankie Trowbridge.”


End file.
